Companies

Bolt expands to seven more Kenyan towns

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Bolt Kenya Country Manager Ola Akinnusi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Taxi-hailing app Bolt has added seven towns to its network as the festive season gains momentum, stepping up competition for its rivals Uber and Little Cab.

Bolt, formerly Taxify, is now available in Nyeri, Meru, Embu, Nanyuki, Karatina, Kilifi and Malindi, adding to its earlier network of nine towns.

The company first launched its services in Nairobi in 2016 before entering Mombasa a year later. In June this year it launched in Thika, Kisumu and Kakamega and later entered Naivasha, Nakuru, Kitale and Eldoret regions in October.

"We continue to scale up our operations for the benefit of our customers,” said Bolt Kenya Country Manager, Ola Akinnusi.

“Our core business is to provide reliable, safe and affordable transportation services to everyone and we are excited to make travel easier and quicker across the country during this festive season."

Bolt customers can hail a variety of transport services including taxi, tuk-tuk and boda boda rides. Bolt said its expansion bid is geared towards making urban transportation convenient and affordable to everyone while offering an array of ride-hailing options.

“We continue to serve our customers better and provide viable economic opportunity across the locations we are in. We are humbled to offer Kenyans more choices to move smartly in cities across the country,” said Akinnusi.

Earlier in June, the firm introduced a service that enables company employees to take rides at the expense of the employer, as it moved to diversify its product offering and grow its revenue streams.

The product dubbed Bolt for Business is already available in more than 25 countries and rivals Uber4Business.

It replaces the need for companies to enrol the services of taxi companies.